Nehemiæ 4
1 Factum est autem, cum audisset Sanaballat quod ædificaremus murum, iratus est valde: et motus nimis subsannavit Iudæos,
And it came to pass, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, that it displeased him, and he became very angry, and he mocked at the Jews.
2 et dixit coram fratribus suis, et frequentia Samaritanorum: Quid Iudæi faciunt imbecilles? Num dimittent eos Gentes? Num sacrificabunt, et complebunt in una die? Numquid ædificare poterunt lapides de acervis pulveris, qui combusti sunt?
And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will people suffer them [to build]? will they sacrifice? will they complete it in one day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish, seeing that they have been burnt?
3 Sed et Tobias Ammanites proximus eius, ait: Ædificent: si ascenderit vulpes, transiliet murum eorum lapideum.
And Tobiyah the 'Ammonite was near him, and he said, Even what they are building, if a fox were to run up, he would readily break through their stone wall.
4 Audi, Deus noster, quia facti sumus despectui: converte opprobrium super caput eorum, et da eos in despectionem in terra captivitatis.
Hear, O our God! how we are become a scorn; and bring their reproach back upon their own head, and give them up for prey in the land of captivity.
5 Ne operias iniquitatem eorum, et peccatum eorum coram facie tua non deleatur, quia irriserunt ædificantes.
And cover not up their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have taunted [us] in the presence of the builders.
6 Itaque ædificavimus murum, et coniunximus totum usque ad partem dimidiam: et provocatum est cor populi ad operandum.
But we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together up to the half thereof; for the people had a heart to work.
7 Factum est autem, cum audisset Sanaballat, et Tobias, et Arabes, et Ammanitæ, et Azotii, quod obducta esset cicatrix muri Ierusalem, et quod cœpissent interrupta concludi, irati sunt nimis.
And it came to pass, when Sanballat and Tobiyah, and the Arabians, and the 'Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were restored, and that the breaches began to be closed up, that it displeased them greatly.
8 Et congregati sunt omnes pariter ut venirent, et pugnarent contra Ierusalem, et molirentur insidias.
And they conspired all of them together to come to fight against Jerusalem, and to do it an injury.
9 Et oravimus Deum nostrum, et posuimus custodes super murum die ac nocte contra eos.
But we prayed unto our God, and set a watch over them day and night, because of the others.
10 Dixit autem Iudas: Debilitata est fortitudo portantis, et humus nimia est, et nos non poterimus ædificare murum.
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of the burden is failing, and there is much rubbish; and we are not able to build on the wall.
11 Et dixerunt hostes nostri: Nesciant, et ignorent donec veniamus in medium eorum, et interficiamus eos, et cessare faciamus opus.
And our adversaries said, “They shall not know, nor see until we come in the midst of them, and slay them, and so stop the work.”
12 Factum est autem venientibus Iudæis, qui habitabant iuxta eos, et dicentibus nobis per decem vices ex omnibus locis quibus venerant ad nos,
And it came to pass, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they said unto us ten times, “From all places whence ye may return home [they intend to come] over us.”
13 statui in loco post murum per circuitum populum in ordinem cum gladiis suis, et lanceis, et arcubus.
I placed therefore on the lower parts of the place on the naked rocks behind the wall—there I placed the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 Et perspexi atque surrexi: et aio ad optimates et magistratus, et ad reliquam partem vulgi: Nolite timere a facie eorum. Domini magni et terribilis mementote, et pugnate pro fratribus vestris, filiis vestris, et filiabus vestris, et uxoribus vestris, et domibus vestris.
And I looked [about], and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: think on the Lord, the great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
15 Factum est autem, cum audissent inimici nostri nunciatum esse nobis, dissipavit Deus consilium eorum. Et reversi sumus omnes ad muros, unusquisque ad opus suum.
And it came to pass, that, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, God frustrated their counsel: and we returned, all of us, to the wall, every one unto his work.
16 Et factum est a die illa, media pars iuvenum eorum faciebat opus, et media parata erat ad bellum, et lanceæ, et scuta, et arcus, et loricæ, et principes post eos in omni domo Iuda.
And it came to pass from that day forth, that the half of my young men wrought at the work, while the other half of them were holding the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the princes stood behind all the house of Judah.
17 Ædificantium in muro, et portantium onera, et imponentium: una manu sua faciebat opus, et altera tenebat gladium:
Those that built on the wall, and those that bore burdens, with those that loaded, —every one with one of his hands wrought on the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
18 ædificentium enim unusquisque gladio erat accinctus renes. Et ædificabant, et clangebant buccina iuxta me.
And the builders had every one his sword fastened around his loins while they were building; and he that blew the cornet stood alongside of me.
19 Et dixi ad optimates, et ad magistratus, et ad reliquam partem vulgi: Opus grande est et latum, et nos separati sumus in muro procul alter ab altero:
And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and extensive, and we are separated upon the wall, distant one from another.
20 in loco quocumque audieritis clangorem tubæ, illuc concurrite ad nos: Deus noster pugnabit pro nobis.
In what place [then] ye hear the sound of the cornet, thither must ye assemble unto us: our God will fight for us.
21 Et nosipsi faciamus opus: et media pars nostrum teneat lanceas ab ascensu auroræ donec egrediantur astra.
So we labored at the work, while the half of them were holding the spears from the rising of the morning-dawn till the stars appeared.
22 In tempore quoque illo dixi populo: Unusquisque cum puero suo maneat in medio Ierusalem, et sint nobis vices per noctem, et diem, ad operandum.
Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his young man lodge within Jerusalem, so that they may be in the night a guard to us, and during the day for the labor.
23 Ego autem et fratres mei, et pueri mei, et custodes, qui erant post me, non deponebamus vestimenta nostra: unusquisque tantum nudabatur ad baptismum.
And neither I, nor my brothers, nor my young men, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us took off our clothes, no one leaving them off even for washing himself.
